San Francisco Giants lose on ninth-inning walk-off hit

PHOENIX -- There was a definite Oakland Alumni Association feel to the Arizona Diamondbacks' 4-3 victory over the Giants at Chase Field Saturday night.

Trevor Cahill pitched shutout ball for six innings before San Francisco overcame a 3-0 deficit to tie the game off him in the seventh. Turned over to the bullpens, Brad Ziegler pitched a perfect ninth for Arizona and set the stage for Eric Chavez, who delivered a one-out, first-pitch, walk-off single to end it.

"I think there's a pretty good relationship between Billy Beane and (Arizona G.M.) Kevin Towers," said Ziegler, who's had a very nice year for the Diamondbacks at 8-1 with seven saves and a 2.45 ERA.

San Francisco Giants' Ryan Vogelsong, right, throws to first base to get Arizona Diamondbacks' Willie Bloomquist, left, out in the sixth inning of a baseball game on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013, in Phoenix. ((AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin))

Chavez, who wasn't sure if he'd ever play again when he left Oakland after the 2010 season, has had a pretty solid year, too, albeit in limited action. He's hitting .286 with nine homers and 41 RBIs in just 67 games and 206 at-bats.

"It was a fastball away," Chavez said. "I'd never faced that guy before, so I didn't know what he had. I was just looking for a strike."

He didn't miss it. The single was Chavez's first walk-off hit since June 4, 2007 while with the A's, when he beat the Red Sox and made a winner of current Giants pitcher Santiago Casilla -- then named Jairo Garcia.

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Chavez, 35, didn't remember that one. He said he doesn't dwell a whole lot about his A's days, even though his brother Casey still works for the Oakland club and they talk on a regular basis.

"I'm completely removed from that," he said. "They're a fun ballclub, but to me they're just another team."

Chavez has had a bit of a career renaissance in Arizona, where he lives, but he isn't sure what the future holds since he is a free agent at year's end.

"It was good for me to leave Oakland and start over, and what better place than New York?" said Chavez, who spent two seasons with the Yankees before joining the Diamondbacks this year.

The Giants trailed 3-0 after four innings and Arizona's lead held up through six, but Gregor Blanco finally broke through against Cahill, slamming just his second home run of the year to right to lead off the seventh. It was Blanco's first homer since June 14, covering 212 at-bats.

After Cahill struck out pinch-hitter Roger Kieschnick, the Giants pushed across the tying runs. Angel Pagan singled, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Marco Scutaro's triple to left-center.

Eury De La Rosa replaced Cahill and struck out Brandon Belt, but Buster Posey delivered a game-tying single to right against Josh Collmenter, Arizona's third pitcher.

Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong opened with three scoreless innings, extending a personal shutout-inning streak to 15 over three games. But the Diamondbacks abruptly ended that in the fourth with a three-run outburst to take the early lead.

Vogelsong wasn't as nearly as sharp as in his previous start but lasted six innings, allowing nine hits while striking out only one.

"Just that one inning, I got a little loose mechanically, and that had an effect how sharp the pitches were," Vogelsong said. "The rest of the game wasn't too bad. But definitely that fourth inning, I got a little out of whack mechanically and didn't have the same sharpness to the pitches."

Disabled pitchers Matt Cain and Jeremy Affeldt threw bullpen sessions before the game. Cain had no issues and is ticketed to start Saturday barring something unforeseen. Affeldt will face live hitters Tuesday in San Diego, and then a determination whether he's ready to be activated.

Manager Bruce Bochy said he hasn't decided how the rotation will shake out once Cain is back. Either the five current starters will get an extra day's rest, someone will get bumped or the Giants will go to a six-man rotation, although Bochy said that's the least likely possibility.

The Giants made just one announcement about their impending roster expansion. Infielder Tony Abreu was activated from the disabled list and will be in uniform Sunday. The club is expected to add four to five more minor league call-ups, but they aren't expected to join the club until Monday.